


Artemis Rising

by bushlaboo



Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: Angst, Redemption, Various Arrow Characters Mentioned
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-11
Updated: 2018-01-11
Packaged: 2019-03-03 07:46:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,060
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13336641
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bushlaboo/pseuds/bushlaboo
Summary: The redemption of Evelyn Sharp.





	Artemis Rising

**Author's Note:**

  * For [AlexiaBlackbriar13](https://archiveofourown.org/users/AlexiaBlackbriar13/gifts).



> I wanted to write a one-shot for your birthday Lexi. I was lacking inspiration and asked Becky and she suggested this idea … a massive stomach virus later and I feel like I wrote this without a brain and like I should apologize for this is rough mess. That said, I adore you wifey. Happy Birthday!

**Blood**. **Pain**. Voices … familiar tones calling out to her as swirl of bright mixed with darkness. The dark, it frightened her, which given the last few years of her life surprised Evelyn. She’d given in to the ugliest parts of herself, losing what she found for herself after her parents’ deaths – not just the team that had embraced her, but herself. The girl she’d been, the stellar student and star gymnast, with parents she loved and she could honestly say hadn’t embarrassed her. No easy feat given some of her friTods’ parents.

The world – their city – wasn’t perfect, but her life had felt pretty darn close. Then Damien Darhk happened.

Dark again … a pulling sensation. New voices, ones she didn’t recognize, flying over her with a sense of urgency.

Her world kept ending. Every time Evelyn thought she was on solid ground again she lost her footing. Damien Darhk abducting her family. Her parents dying when H.I.V.E.’s holding facility had been breached by the Green Arrow, blaming the city’s hero for her loss, while finding her own in the Black Canary. Losing that beacon of hope to Damien Darhk. Trying to become her idol and falling short according to the Canary's teammates.

She’d allowed the Green Arrow to convince her to seek justice instead of vengeance, only to hate him more for it when she learned he’d taken his own. He’d been a killer. Taken life indiscriminately. Oliver’s hypocrisy sickened her and with Prometheus spewing poison in her ear Evelyn hadn’t seen the truth of Oliver. Not the ragged falsity Adrian wrenched from him, but the one she’d come to understand slowly after the world had burst into flames around her – he was a killer, necessity made him one, and Oliver wanted better for her. To keep her from carrying that weight and it staining her soul.

_She was floating now. The world spun, a swirl of color and Evelyn felt herself getting lost._

_“Focus,” Nyssa snapped the instruction. The voice pulled her in even as she bristled at the annoyance in the older woman’s tone. It had been a solid month since she heard anything but pride in her mentor’s voice._

_It took a moment of her studying herself, the shorter length of her hair – singed and trimmed after the horror that was Lian Yu – and her atrocious posture for Evelyn to realize she was seeing an early training session with the Crescent Order. She’d forgotten how the resentment had wafted off her. The beautiful remote Japanese island was a far nicer prison than the metal cage she’d been left in, but it was a prison nonetheless._

_Banishment from her home had been the price of siding with Prometheus._

_“Yeah, yeah I get it. I’m your Padawan now,” she heard herself snark. Nyssa’s eyebrow rose, confusion flashing in her dark eyes._

_“It’s a movie reference,” Tatsu explained with a chuckle as she adjusted her stance._

_Felicity would have gotten it, Evelyn thought. Was she thinking that now or then? It was hard to tell, but seeing herself blinking rapidly, to stop the sheen her eyes had taken on she was pretty sure she thought it then too._

_As much as missed the camaraderie of the team – the surrogate little sister vibes she got from Rene, Curtis, Rory and Diggle. It had been Felicity Evelyn regretted hurting the most. The genius blonde had been the one to see her beyond the team, had seen the girl, and insisted on helping her get her GED, a safe apartment – she’d even spent a few weeks at Felicity’s place until that could be arranged, and a job to help her pay for it._

_The world spun again and when it came back into focus she again saw herself, this time she was in her Artemis gear: black leather jacket, dark green shirt and pants, sans her mask. In its place was the mask Tatsu had just gifted her, the yang to her yin, a black mask with bold red circle that resided over her temple. Below her a battle raged, but her attention was on the boy._

_William … Oliver’s son._

_The world was chaos. Evelyn had gotten used to that. But she knew now how to keep it from falling apart. She just had to stay focused and she would have her chance. Her actions had lead the boy to losing his mother, nothing would make that right, but she could help rescue him and see to it that he wasn’t made an orphan like her._

_From her vantage Evelyn saw the danger the others couldn’t and she leapt._

**Pain**. Physical she categorized over the constant beep she heard. Her right shoulder and left side, just above her kidney. She remembered the bullets then. Two had hit solidly, another two had grazed her as she swooped in to prevent William from being hit.

“William,” she gasped, her voice harsh as she opened her eyes. The too bright light of hospital fluorescents burned her retinas and Evelyn squinted as struggled to sit up.

“Hey! It’s okay. You’re okay, Evelyn,” a long missed feminine voice said as a warm hand rubbed gently over her arm. “Everyone’s okay.”

It took her a moment to focus on Felicity. Exhaustion marred her face, but she still managed to glow as she smiled down at her. “William,” she insisted.

“Perfect. He's absolutely perfect thanks to you,” she answered with a soft squeeze.

“You needn't coddle her,” Nyssa remarked stepping into her eyeline behind Felicity.

The blonde, pffted. “She’s been pacing,” she tattled in a mock whisper.

Nyssa frowned causing Bevel to laugh, it was weak and painful, and was followed by a hiss as she breathed through it. “I know instruction is not lost on you,” Nyssa said, concern softening her face, “so rest.”

Evelyn nodded, already drained by their short conversation. “Don’t worry,” Felicity said running her fingers soothingly through her hair, “we’ll – the team, Nyssa – will be here when you wake up.”

She heard the promise and the forgiveness. The weight she’d been carrying for nearly a year broke free and Evelyn felt lighter, hopeful.

The world could fall apart, but it didn’t mean it couldn’t be put back together again. It would never be quite the same, Evelyn knew, but that didn’t mean it couldn’t be good.

That she could be good.


End file.
